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Harris, Law Specialist

Category: Law

Satisfied Customers: 2851

Experience: Family Law - Specialist in Divorce, Financial Relief and Children Matters

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My ex husband and I have been divorced months, we have

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My ex husband and I have been divorced for 18 months, we have one child aged 10. My ex has blatantly refused and lump sum financial settlement and although he has been paying £300 per week to me for maintenance I have to argue fight and beg for it every week. I have previously been advised that due to the unusual nature of his occupation my chances of actually proving his income will prove extremely difficult and therefore a settlement is unlikely. He is, and has been for the last 20 years, a professional poker player. We were married for 11 years and I went into the relationship with approximately £. having purchased and sold 3 properties. I also received £70,000 upon my fathers death and a vehicle worth £15,000. Me ex husband came with zero having lived with his mother for 32 years. I had a very good job with PwC and was earning almost £30,000 when I left the firm. My ex husband had wanted to pursue his poker career on an international platform and pressured me into giving up my job and travelling with him. He had no funds to allow him to do so and therefore I charged approximately £100,000 to my credit cards so that he could have a good chance. Over the course of our marriage he became very successful and earned in excess of £5,000,000.000. Over the years he convinced me that the equity in the property we had purchased together by then would be much better spent earning us money rather than sitting in bricks and mortar. He gambled every penny I had. Our lifestyle had been lavish and in keeping with his income bracket at that time. I now find myself in a position whereby I am on state benefits and barely have enough money to support myself and our daughter. He has been paying her private school fees regularly if not always late.Last week I was given notice on the property I currently rent for myself and my daughter (£1624pm) but have managed to secure another and have signed a contract to move in on the 23rd of this month. The property is only 1.5 miles away from where I live now but my ex husband has stated that as I didn't ask his permission or include him in the decision making progress he will no longer be providing any form of maintenance payments from today. Obviously I have signed a legal tenancy contract based on my financial position including those funds.I do not know what to do now and seek advice as to whether or not the court would make a temporary order to ensure that payments resume and are regular.I appreciate any advice.Thank you.Jacqueline Vaswani

Hi thank you for your question. Just a bit more information required to fully assist you:-Is there a court approved financial settlement arising out of divorce?-Is there a child maintenance calculation in place?-Have you remarried?

No court orders in place.Child maintenance calculation would not work to my advantage due to the unpredictable nature of my ex husband's income. Even though he is classed as a professional poker player his income from poker is non taxable and as such does not need to be declared through official channels. Coupled with the fact that he would simply inform any court that he has lost all of his money. The calculations from CSA are not even close to the £300 pw he has been paying me for the last 18 monthsThe majority of his income is public knowledge and can be found easily on Google (Ram Vaswani, The Hendon Mob) it's the online earnings and income from his sports trading that is more difficult to ascertain.No I am not remarried I am a single parent and it's just myself and my daughter.

Thanks for confirming. In the circumstances you would be in a position to proceed with an application for financial relief which will take into account spousal maintenance and any other financial orders you seek. Initially this should be attempted either through mediation (you can find independent mediators here: familymediationcouncil.org.uk If a settlement is agreed this can be submitted to court under a consent order (together with a D81 form outlining your respective financial positions)If mediation does not progress you should then proceed with an application to court under Form A for financial relief. This would include consideration of all your assets and financial position, as well as your needs, as well as his financial position and needs and the court will decide what is fair when considering the following criteria:1. The income, earning capacity, property and other financial resources which each of the parties to the marriage has or is likely to have in the foreseeable future, including in the case of earning capacity any increase in that capacity which it would in the opinion of the court be reasonable to expect a party to the marriage to take steps to acquire;2. The financial needs, obligations and responsibilities which each of the parties to the marriage has or is likely to have in the foreseeable future;3. The standard of living enjoyed by the family before the breakdown of the marriage;4. The age of each party to the marriage and the duration of the marriage;5. Any physical or mental disability of either of the parties to the marriage;6. The contributions which each of the parties has made or is likely in the foreseeable future to make to the welfare of the family, including any contribution by looking after the home or caring for the family;7. The conduct of each of the parties, if that conduct is such that it would in the opinion of the court be inequitable to disregard it;8. In the case of proceedings for divorce or nullity of marriage, the value to each of the parties to the marriage of any benefit which, by reason of the dissolution or annulment of the marriage, that party will lose the chance of acquiring.If you have any further questions regarding this please let me know. In the meantime if you found this information helpful please provide a positive rating. I will not be credited for answering your question without a positive rating. Thank you

My ex husband has refused mediation so that is not an option. As for the fact that his income cannot be verified and can only be calculated on an average yearly figure based upon the last 15 years how then is a fair figure determined in way of child and spousal maintenance. Also, as he took all of my equity and inheritance and there are no material asserts, how would I go about claiming back the money that I came to the marriage with which I estimate at approximately £330,000?

You would still need to attend a mediation session yourself as you cannot pursue a court application without a mediator signing off that mediation is not suitable. As for the sums and "claiming back" your assets - this is something that will be assessed as part of the court proceedings. Regarding spousal and child maintenance this will be in relation to both of your reasonable needs which you will need to set out to the court.

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